Bedside Assistant Bed Handle Lawsuit

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After a number of reports surfaced linking Bedside Assistant bed handles to incidents of strangulation and suffocation in elderly users, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen has filed a petition with the FDA attempting to ban the controversial products. To date, at least four deaths have been attributed to Bedside Assistant bed handles.

Free Bedside Assistant Bed Handle Case Evaluation: If you or a loved one has sustained an injury because of a Bedside Assistant bed handle, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a lawsuit and we can help.

What’s the problem?

May 11, 2011 – Last week, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen filed a petition with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to ban Bedside Assistant brand bed handles after reports of strangulation and suffocation deaths in at least four elderly patients. According to the complaint, the devices allow users to become trapped between the bedrail and the mattress.

Since 1999, there have been at least four deaths linked to Bedside Assistant bed handle products, although the actual number is estimated to be much higher as most incidents of this nature typically go unreported. According to the FDA’s Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database, three of the four deaths involving Bedside Assistant bed handles were found to be caused by asphyxiation or strangulation. An additional non-fatal case of an elderly patient becoming entrapped has also been reported.

“Contrary to the manufacturer’s claim that the Bedside Assistant bed handles make any bed a safer bed, data previously provided to the FDA demonstrate that these devices can turn a bed into a death trap for patients who are physically weak or have physical or mental impairments,” said Deputy Director Michael Carome, of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group.

Bedside Assistant bed handles are designed to slide all the way under the mattress, so that the handle end is snugly against the side of the mattress, but a fundamental design flaw allows a dangerous gap to form between the handle and the mattress. This can allow someone in the bed to become entrapped, causing them to be strangled or suffocated.

Do You Have a Bedside Assistant Bed Handle Lawsuit?

The Product Liability Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in Bedside Assistant bed handle lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new strangulation / suffocation cases in all 50 states.